19-06-2025
A totally not fake look at the Boston Red Sox AI interview questions
A totally not fake look at the Boston Red Sox AI interview questions
Hey all, it's me. The guy who programmed the Boston Red Sox AI bot. You know, the one Joon Lee reported has been conducting interviews on behalf of the team for a baseball operations job role.
I can understand why there might be some consternation about the team trusting computers more than humans. Especially after so many one-sided trades over the last few years, but this is getting a little bit blown out of proportion. I only made the AI bot to see if potential candidates align with The Red Sox Way. Like everything else in sports, there's a perfect algorithm to tell us who can do the job better than anyone else and my bot can weed through those who don't fit in with our culture.
Many of you are probably still skeptical, so please allow me to provide a sampling of questions our AI bot has been asking during the course of our hiring search.
For privacy reasons, you must understand we cannot reveal the answers, but if you adhere to The Red Sox Way, they should be fairly obvious.
Fenway Sports Group has many other entities and interests besides the Red Sox. Would you be comfortable trading a superstar to finance something not related to baseball, such as a Broadway play? Your superstar starting pitcher just blew another late-inning lead to the Yankees do you: Throw a tantrum in the clubhouse? Trade your ace for prospects because he can't get the job done Tip you cap and call the Yankees your daddy A beloved first baseman makes a critical error in a World Series game do you: Explain this is a team sport and the series isn't over Chalk it up to the unpredictability of baseball and move on Let the player take all the heat then cut him the following season A beloved starting pitcher who helped the team win two World Series after beating cancer is up for a new contract. Our internal analytics program says to low-ball him on an offer. What's your next move? Reboot the computer because the program is clearly broken Ignore the computer altogether because it can't process sentimental value Side with the computer and trade the pitcher to Oakland for pennies on the dollar after the pitcher finds your compensation offer 'a joke' Our Manager has been found complicit in a scheme to electronically steal signs, compromising the integrity of the game and calling into question the ethics of the entire organization. How long would you wait to re-hire him to the exact same position? In a smashing success for our scouting and player development departments, a 26-year-old homegrown talent has just won AL MVP and guided the team to another World Series title. He has one year left on his contract. What team would you trade him to and why? A beloved third baseman and three-time All-Star is unhappy with the team asking him to only DH going forward. How do you make sure this gets as messy as possible before also trading him for pennies on the dollar? A disheveled Ben Affleck shows up in your office demanding your help. He can't tell you what it is. You can never ask him about it later and you're going to hurt some people. Do you respond: How did you get in here? Can't you ask Matt Damon? Whose car we gonna take?
See? These are all just your standard baseball questions here at the Red Sox. I can assure you, had this candidate made it through a sixth round of interviews, they would've spoken to a human representative. Well, it's a hologram of Bill James, but James is technically a human!
